The Mako Generator
by Moosemeister
Summary: In an AU after FFVII, the new AVALANCHE has been devastated and Cloud killed by a mysterious group using Mako technology, and Barret has been framed for it. Can Cait Sith's controller Reeves Tuesti clear Barret?


NOTE: Since I haven't seen Advent Children, played Dirge of Cerberus, or in fact had anything to do with the FFVII compilation, as far as this fanfic is concerned, they never happened. I _have_ taken a few ideas from what I know of AC, so there is a city called Edge "replacing" Midgar. This fanfic does only take place a short while on from FFVII, so you COULD try and fit them in, but I'll probably STILL contradict them somehow. Disclaimer: I don't own any of FFVII terms, ideas or characters, blah, blah, blah… 

"And so, the last of Hojo's monstrosities is finally put out of its misery." Deeg maneuvered the Mako Powered Heavy Weapon 16 towards Cloud, who was straddled on the floor before him. "The world thinks you're a hero. And so, to leave your reputation unblemished, I've been playing the bad guy. But, frankly, Cloud, you're a bigger danger to this planet than Sephiroth ever was. You won't understand any of this, I'm afraid, thanks to the huge amounts of Mako energy this" he patted the side of the MPHW16 "has pumped into you. You're a dried up husk. Still, considering your track record with Mako energy, I probably should finish you off, don't you think?"

With that, the large, bladed appendage on the front of the Mako weapon raised itself high into the air, and came crashing down onto Cloud Strife's chest.

"Damn Shinra bastards! We cleaned you up years ago!" Barret Wallace dived out of the approaching mech's way, firing his gun-arm.

"N-no! J-just because we use Mako, d-doesn't make us S-Shinra!" Greeg shouted at the AVALANCHE veteran.

"What? Then you must be retarded. Everyone knows how harmful Mako energy is. Or did you miss that?" Barret stopped firing. This could be interesting.

"A-Actually, Mako is, t-though harmful, a u-useful energy source for w-weapons in time of crisis."

"What the hell sort of crisis is this? You and your damn friends show up, chase Cloud off and then kill half of my newly-formed AVALANCHE team!"

"Ah, y-you see, we're h-here to s-save the planet." A cannon sprouted from the side of the mech. Barret eyed it suspiciously for a moment then said "Save the planet from what? We're the good guys! What the hell have AVALANCHE done?"

The cannon aimed itself at Barret. "I-It's not y-you. It's y-your s-sword wielding b-buddy."

"What the hell do you mean by-" but before Barret could finish, a dart shot out of the cannon and hit him in the arm before dissolving.

"You sonnuvabitch! Cloud ain't done nothin' wrong! I won't let you…" Barret slipped into unconsciousness. "S-sedative darts. G-Good job t-they work. T-that guy was n-nuts" Greeg observed, stomping off in his mech. He'd leave Barret at the scene. It'd make a nice news story: AVALANCHE leader goes mad and guns down fellow members. However, there were more important things to worry about…

Reeve had a feeling something was wrong as soon as he saw the gaping hole in AVALANCHE's HQ. He was sure something was wrong when he saw the reporters. He was dead certain something was wrong when he saw the bodies, the remains of explosive devices being carried off by forensic teams, and Barret, lying comatose on the floor.

"What happened here?" He said, trying to push his way through the throng of reporters.

One of them, a large and ugly chap with a face like a brick, turned to him. "What the 'ell gives you the right to push past us, bud?"

"I'm Reeve Tuesti, the architect of Midgar-"

"I don't care who yer are! Midgar is history! This is the biggest story there's been around here since the meteor incident! Thinking of the dirt we can dig up on this guy makes me delirious! I can see it now: 'Barret Wallace-troubled maniac'. A six page spread about how much of sadistic psycho this guy is!"

This angered Reeve. After the meteor incident, him and Barret had become reasonably good friends, as all of the group had, and it wasn't right for this ass to be exploiting whatever had gone on here for more readers.

"I happen to be a good friend of Barret Wallace-troubled maniac, and I want to know what's going on here."

The brick-faced man's expression softened "Well…er, obviously, I wasn't really gonna write that stuff about yer bud…Yer wanna know what happened here? The cops just found this guy lying 'ere, big hole in the wall like, and all 'is buds dead. Apparently, they checked the bullets found in the corpses, and they're the same in yer bud's gun."

"What?"

"Yep. Looks like yer bud shot up 'is buds."

"But Barret was the leader of AVALANCHE! He wouldn't wipe them out!"

"Well, s'matter of fact, I was plannin' to write from that angle: What makes a guy go nuts and shoot 'is buds? A psychometricanical analysis, or summit. The public loves that sorta crap."

"Dammit, I KNOW Barret wouldn't do this. Someone's set him up!"

Brick-face was beginning to get uncomfortable now. This guy seemed to be really pissed off. "Well, maybe, but I can't very well right a story that that angle, can I? Can I?"

But Reeve had already walked off, his mind abuzz with ways that Barret could've been framed.


End file.
